NCAA co-champ Brad Tandy booked his ticket the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow with a big 50 free swim on the closing day of South African Nationals.
Tandy took second in the race, with veteran and national legend Roland Schoeman taking the win. Schoeman had already qualified for the Games in his preliminary swim.
Though the final day had no swims for superstar Chad le Clos, the session wasn’t without drama, as both the men’s 200 breast and women’s 200 fly came down to touchouts.
QUALIFYING TIMES FOR THE 2014 COMMONWEALTH GAMES:
| Men’s Standard | Women’s Standard | |
| 22.33 | 50 m Freestyle | 25.34 |
| 48.93 | 100 m Freestyle | 54.86 |
| 1.48:42 | 200 m Freestyle | 1.58:74 |
| 3.49:55 | 400 m Freestyle | 4.09:81 |
| 800 m Freestyle | 8.34:33 | |
| 15.14:38 | 1500 m Freestyle | |
| 54.43 | 100 m Backstroke | 1.01:39 |
| 1.58:48 | 200 m Backstroke | 2.11:09 |
| 1.00:86 | 100 m Breaststroke | 1.08:63 |
| 2.12:78 | 200 m Breaststroke | 2.27:88 |
| 52.57 | 100 m Butterfly | 58.89 |
| 1.57:03 | 200 m Butterfly | 2.09:38 |
| 1.59:99 | 200 m Ind. Medley | 2.14:97 |
| 4.18:99 | 400 m Ind. Medley | 4.44:53 |
Men’s 50 Free
33-year-old vet Roland Schoeman completed his domination of the splash and dash to open up the final night of South African Nationals. Schoeman went 22.11, just about a tenth off what he went at both prelims and semi-finals.
NCAA champ Brad Tandy took second, cutting two tenths off his semifinals time to punch his ticket to Glasgow – his 22.22 snuck under the Commonwealth Games cut time, making him the 7th member of the men’s contingent.
Women’s 200 Fly
19-year-old Vanessa Mohr won the womens 200 fly in a touchout. Mohr got her hand on the wall just a tenth before Megan Stevens, 2:19.50 to 2:19.68.
In another touchout, 17-year-old Tarryn Els went 2:20.28 to beat 16-year-old Carmen La Roux’s 2:28.39.
Men’s 200 Breast
The men’s 200 breast was an equally tight race. Jarred Crous, 17, went 2:14.86 to beat out Ayrton Sweeney, who went 2:14.95.
Brenden Crawford went 2:19.12 for third.
Women’s 400 IM
Rene Warnes took home the women’s 400 IM, the final individual race for the women. Her 4:45.72 blew away the field by over 10 seconds, but missed the Commonwealth Games cut by just over a second.
16-year-old Marlies Ross took runner-up honors in 4:55.95, showing remarkable consistency after her 4:55.98 in prelims.
Men’s 1500 Free
Myles Brown paced the final individual event of the meet, taking the distance crown with a 15:19.30. Veteran Troyden Prinsloo closed hard to take second place. The 28-year-old was 15:20.14 with the field’s best final two 100 splits.
Qualifiers from all 6 days
Men
Chad le Clos (200 fly, 200 back, 400 IM, 100 fly, 200 IM)
Dylan Bosch (200 fly, 200 IM)
Myles Brown (400 free)
Cameron van der Burgh (100 breast)
Sebastien Rousseau (400 IM)
Roland Schoeman (50 free)
Brad Tandy (50 free)
Women
Karin Prinsloo (100 free, 200 free, 200 back)
Tara Nicholas (100 breast)
Relays
- Northern Tigers Swimming went 1-2 in the women’s 4×100 Medley Relay, with their A team blasting away with the national title by over 10 seconds. Karin Prinsloo was most notable on that squad, crushing a 54.84 on the freestyle leg to seal the 4:10.65 win. Also on the relay were backstroker Lehesta Kemp (1:03.88), breaststroker Franko Jonker (1:08.65) and butterflyer Vanessa Mohr (1:03.28). The NTS “B” team went 4:21.07 for second place.
- Northern Tigers also won the men’s relay, going 3:41.19. Their anchor leg was also blistering, with 50 free champ Roland Schoeman splitting 48.25. Darren Murray, Marko Visser and Joshua Steyn joined Schoeman on the championship team. KZNA took second with Brett Walsh putting up the field’s fastest butterfly split at 53.92.
Maybe eventually but right now only his 200 time is worth mentioning.
I guess VDB gave up on the 200
I thought I saw an interview where vdburgh said he wanted to try the 200 this year. I don’t really understand why he wouldn’t at least swim it at trials… on the last day, what do you have to lose?
Also… I think Kevin Cordes could be a medal threat in all three breaststrokes… possibly.
Sprenger is a beast. He is the only one today that can be a medal contender in all 3 breastrokes
He also gives the Aussies the best breaststroker in the 4X100 medley relay final
Like aswimfan said VDB does not swim the 200 because he lacks endurance. Not to long ago, he had problems finishing a 100. Back in 2009/10/11 he would always lead the field at the 50 but get passed by everyone on the second 50. London was the first time that we saw VDB match his front end speed with a quality second 50. However, Sprenger does not have endurance problems. If I recall correctly he gave up the 200 after he set the WR in 2009 and the suits were banned. He didn’t want to swim an event where he could never be close to his time. He finally swam the 200 at trial this year with a 2;08. Also… Read more »
Why doesn’t Van der Burgh swim the 200 breast?
Because he lacks endurance to be truly competitive at the most elite level.
You can also ask: why doesn’t Ruta Meilutyte swim 200 breast?
Even Sprenger decidedly did not swim 200 breast in 2011-2013 to concentrate on 100, which paid off handsomely.